The Inter forward received a call up for the national side again following a string of fine performances at club level, and he is keen to learn a thing or two from the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner.

"I think that for me and for the other players it's already an honor to have him [Messi] with us in the team," Palacio told ESPN Deportes. "It will be a dream to play alongside him. I always try to play in the same way and stay true to myself.

"We're all trying to stay close to him in order to take advantage of the opportunity to learn something from him and improve."

Argentine sits atop of the table in the South American qualification campaign with 20 points from nine games, holding a three-point lead over Ecuador. The the team's next opponent, Venezuela, is in fourth place on 12.